The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the government entity that manages the commercial and public radio spectrum in the United States, has proposed making 500 megahertz of spectrum available for broadband within the next 10 years of which 300 MHz between 225 MHz and 3.7 GHz will likely be made available for mobile use within five years.

Given the dismal state of broadband connections in America, it was illuminating recently to hear a major telecom executive paint a rosy picture of where the country stands. When Wall Street Journal Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray asked how the United States ranks in broadband, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg didn't hesitate: "One. Not even close."

In 2006, professor Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard Law School predicted that over the next decade there would be a determined effort to replace the personal computer with a new generation of "information appliances." He was, it turned out, exactly right. But the one thing he couldn't forecast was who would be leading the charge.

Could we give Barack Obama a break?

Even among his supporters, opinions about his handling of health care reform range from the view that he messed up to the view that he really, really messed up.

True, the more charitable critics grant that Obama faced tenacious Republicans in Congress egged on by rabid Tea Partiers. And some acknowledge that, more deeply, he faced a “polarized” nation and was beset by “special interests” on both the left and the right.